Insecurities
by Goth Albino Angel
Summary: Marion wakes in the middle of the night, pondering her relationship with Bloom. Oritel finds his wife sobbing in the middle of the night and sets about making it right the only way he knows how. Cookies. Orion fluff.


**_Alright, this is from a headcanon I had a while back in which Marion, Bloom's mom, would sometimes have breakdowns and Oritel would make her feel calmer by wrapping her in a blanket, whispering to her, feeding her, etc. This is just a short little fic about it. Fair warning, there is mention of my Poly!Winx relationship (Bloom dating Stella, Flora and Musa) in the second half, but it only serves to move the plot. Enjoy._**

* * *

Marion slowly walked to the window and stared out at the stars, feeling her heart weigh heavier looking at them. _Bloom was really upset about the maids chosen dress for her this morning._ she mused, watching the twinkling dots with a frown. _Does she not like the designs? What if they're too fluffy for her tastes? I should have asked her about it before simply giving her my old ones. She's a grown woman with her own tastes and she deserves to let herself shine as she wants to, not with hand-me-downs._

Marion felt her eyes prick as the train of thought continued. _Perhaps I should ask Vanessa what Bloom likes and surprise her with new dresses that are more her style. Vanessa did raise Bloom after all, which means she knows more about Bloom than I do._ This was the wrong spiral for the tracks to take. _How much more about Bloom don't I know? How many precious moments did I really miss? Does Bloom hate me for not being there as her mother? It_ _ **was**_ _rather foolhardy to go with Oritel into the Obsidian Vortex. I should have thought of my children first. But then, would Oritel hate me for not being there with him, helping him stay strong?_

Tears flowed freely down the round cheeks now, Marion's vision blurring as she lowered her head to stare at the sill below her fingers. Slowly, her shoulders began to shake as she thought of how her husband would feel about her had she not stayed with him. If she had stayed with Bloom, she wouldn't have had to miss her own daughter growing up without her, but Oritel may very well have hated her once they finally released him. Instead, her youngest child probably hates her for sending her to two complete strangers to raise her, just because she wanted to stay with her husband.

Oritel stirred as a soft sound reached his ears and he noticed that his arms were cold where Marion usually lay. Sitting up, he felt his heart sink as he watched his beloved cry by the window. Standing swiftly, the king strode over to the window and gently reached out, not wanting to startle the already distraught woman. It broke his heart when the green eyes he adored turned to him overflowing with sorrow.

"Oh, Marion." he whispered, taking the sobbing queen into his arms. Marion wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, slightly louder sobs filtering from her now. Oritel stroked her hair as he guided her back toward the bed. "Will you tell me about it?"

Sniffing, Marion asked, "Do you think Bloom hates me for choosing you over her?"

This caught Oritel off guard as he had been expecting another worry about her not being as useful to the Company of Light as she actually was. _It seems her worst fears have changed._ he inwardly sighed, cuddling his love closer to him. "Marion, Bloom would never hate you for doing that. She loves you just like I do."

"But I could have stayed." Marion cried softly. "I could have stayed and raised her so that Daphne didn't have to send her away. Instead, I went with you and left her with strangers."

Oritel stroked away the tears on her cheeks and whispered, "You wanted to fight to save her, Marion. You fought those witches and locked yourself in a sword to ensure that your newest baby girl would be able to live her life. That's just as important as raising her."

Marion slowly calmed, but Oritel could tell that it wasn't anywhere near the calmness she needed to get back to sleep. Sighing softly, he laid his tearful wife on the blanket and began wrapping her up in it. Marion simply allowed him to, knowing Oritel did this every time she got this way. He always had a plan to soothe her fears, but she was unsure if he could really help this time. The king wrapped his wife into a burrito and gently lifted her into his arms, shouldering out the door. Taking careful steps down, Oritel pushed his way into the kitchen and smiled, sitting Marion in a chair at one of the smaller tables. Glancing around, he rubbed his hands together and set to work.

* * *

"Hey, Bloom!"

Bloom glanced up from where she had been looking through Musa's music collection to find Stella painting Flora's nails. "What's up, Stella?"

"Do you think you could find some snacks for us? I'm getting kinda hungry, but not full meal hungry." Stella held her tongue between her teeth as she moved to the next hand.

"Me too, actually." Flora agreed, blowing on the finished hand.

Bloom smiled at her girlfriends and nodded. "Alright. Give me a minute to go see what I can make."

"You need help?" Musa asked, glancing up at her girlfriend.

"Nah, I got it." Bloom responded, setting the CDs down and making her way out. "Don't let Stella give Flora a full makeover until I get back, though! I wanna see."

"No promises!" They all laughed and Bloom headed down the stairs.

The castle was quiet this time of night. The servants were all in their quarters now that everything had been cleaned up. No foreign dignitaries were visiting, the advisors had all gone home, her parents were probably tucked away in bed, long asleep. Still, Bloom tried to pick her way quietly through the large halls, not wanting to make too much noise and wake someone up, especially not over a midnight snack. She did pretty well, only running into two pillars and nearly smashing only one vase.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the redheaded princess finally made her way down the hall toward the kitchens. Now, to figure out if there were any snacks that would sate her hungry girlfriends-.

Bloom's ears pricked in surprise to hear someone else in the kitchen and she crept closer to get a peek. What she saw gave her even more of a shock. Her father was at the stove stirring something while her mother sat at the table, wrapped in a blanket and looking as though the world was ending. _What's going on?_ the princess wondered. _Who died?_

Oritel doled out the cookies into the proper sizes on a plate and brought them to the table, setting them before his wife. Marion, having done this with him plenty of times before when she was in a lighter mood, waved her hands and the cookies heated to the appropriate temperature, ensuring maximum warmth and gooiness. Oritel smiled and moved his chair closer to hers, but Marion simply stared at the cookies.

 _How often did Mike and Vanessa make cookies for Bloom?_ she wondered, gazing at the plate. _Did they know she had magic? Did they teach her how to make cookies? Did I miss that important part too?_

Oritel sensed that his wife was spiraling back down and quickly pulled Marion against his chest, allowing her to cry against him. "Speak to me, darling." he urged softly. "Please let me know."

"I can't believe I abandoned her!" Marion sobbed, clutching at her husband's arm desperately. "I abandoned her to live with complete strangers while I was stuck in a sword for eighteen years! How could she ever love me after knowing that?"

Bloom's eyes widened in shock. She had never seen her mother break down like this. She always seemed so calm and in control, always advising from the sidelines and stepping in to help when she felt it was needed. It never occurred to her that her mother would sometimes need a shoulder too.

"Marion, I'm sure Bloom understands why you did it." Oritel soothed her, rocking her gently. "She loves you just as she does Mike and Vanessa. And it's two sets of parents to love her even more."

"But I could have been there." Marion sniffed. "I missed her first time performing magic, her primary Winx form, teaching her how to control her power. I missed all of it to stay with you. But I couldn't bear the thought of you hating me."

This caught both of her family members off guard now. "Marion, why would I hate you?" Oritel inquired, lifting her chin so he could gaze into her eyes.

"I would have left you all alone to the Obsidian Vortex." Marion whispered, avoiding his eyes in shame. "I would have left you to the witches' torture while I took care of Bloom. You would have hated me when we finally rescued you, but… Bloom would have been able to grow up with at least one of her parents. I'm a failure as a mother and a wife."

Bloom had to steel herself not to run into the kitchen and console her mother herself. She knew her father could handle it and turned to make her way back up the stairs. Remembering her mother's cries, she decided that she would help her father from now on. It wouldn't do for the Queen of Domino to feel as though she wasn't good enough.

The girls glanced at her as she walked into her room and Musa instantly stood. "What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing." Bloom told her with a small smile. "I just think we should wait a bit before grabbing some snacks. My parents are enjoying some of their own and I didn't want to disturb them."

The others nodded in understanding and went back to the conversation they had been having before she arrived. Bloom settled beside Stella on her bed and pulled her princess closer, helping her dry her own freshly painted nails.

Back in the kitchen, Oritel kissed Marion's forehead lovingly. "Marion, I could never hate you." he told her. "I love you more than life itself. Enduring torture to ensure my family's safety means more to me, especially if I knew you were watching over our little flower.

"But that doesn't mean Bloom hates you for _not_ being there for her. She loves you dearly and is so happy to finally be able to get to know you. She's happy now that she knows us and can stop searching for something to connect herself to. She loves you, my darling, and I doubt that's going to change just because of an on-the-spot decision you made."

Marion had finally begun to calm down and Oritel reached for the still-warm cookies, offering her one gently. Slowly, Marion accepted and bit into it, chewing as Oritel took a bite of his own. They sat in comfortable silence, eating the cookies together as Marion felt the warmth and love radiating from her husband soothe her fears as they often do.

Once the cookies were gone, Oritel stood with his little Marion burrito and carried her back up the stairs to their room. Settling onto the bed, Oritel unwrapped the redhead and pulled her body against his, allowing her to press her head against his chest. Listening to his heartbeat, Marion felt her fears recede completely and smiled up at her husband.

"Thank you, Oritel."

Oritel grinned down at her and pressed another kiss to her forehead, bringing the blanket up to cover them. "Anytime, Marion. Always." With Oritel's gentle hand stroking her hair and the sound of his heart beating rhythmically in her ear, Marion soon began to doze, a small smile on her face. Oritel grinned down at her lovingly and pressed one last kiss to the top of her head before also settling for sleep.

 ** _And there you have it. Orion (Marion and Oritel) are my favorites, aside from Bloom x Stella/Musa/Flora. Hope you enjoyed some Domino Royalty. Don't forget to drop a review for me!_**


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